Chapter 236: Rain Tiger at Will Jutsu? No! It's Snow Tiger at Will Jutsu!
"Long time no see, Kakashi." Kenichi looked at Kakashi in front of him and let out a sincere sigh.
Come to think of it, ever since he left Konoha, Kenichi had seen Kakashi a few times, but most of those encounters were from the shadows, moments where Kakashi had no idea it was him. In that sense, this really was their first proper reunion since he'd left the village.
After so long, Kakashi looked even more composed. The sharpness in his features had become clearer, already showing traces of the man he would become. And now that he'd recognized Kenichi, the life in his expression was impossible to hide.
Kakashi glanced at the three men fleeing in disarray, then turned back to Kenichi. His gaze was complicated.
Still, he set the "rogue ninja" issue aside for the moment. He did not mention it. Instead, he tacitly chose to talk first.
And, at the same time, to quietly gather information.
"This place," Kakashi said, voice calm, "you didn't come all the way here just to be Hokage, did you?"
The Land of Snow was distant, isolated, and brutal. Most people avoided it unless they had a very specific reason. It was not a place anyone visited casually.
Yet Kenichi was here.
Which meant there was a strong chance Orochimaru was here too. Their master and disciple relationship was no secret. If the two of them appeared in the Land of Snow at the same time, it had to be for a purpose.
The only thing Kakashi could connect it to was the recent situation in the Snow Ninja Village. The Daimyo had changed, and the Kage had changed. The power structure had shifted.
If that shift was tied to two ninja who had defected from Konoha, especially Orochimaru and Kenichi, then this intelligence belonged on the Third Hokage's desk.
Because if Konoha rogue ninja were running around overthrowing another country's Daimyo and Kage, it would stain Konoha's reputation. It would invite criticism. The Land of Fire was already unstable, and rumors spread fast.
The Fire Daimyo was still insisting on forming the Twelve Guardian Ninja. He was even expanding their scale, and he'd contacted rogue ninja from other villages. He probably believed he'd done it quietly.
But Konoha knew.
The only question was what the old man sitting in the Hokage's chair intended to do about it.
Kenichi's eyes flickered slightly. Then he smiled and answered without hesitation.
"Yes," he said. "I plan to establish an ideal country here."
He admitted it so smoothly that it almost sounded convincing.
If that could make Konoha pay attention to the Land of Snow, it really would be interesting.
For a moment, Kenichi even felt tempted. The Land of Snow was isolated by the sea, far from the main continent. Its territory was huge. The only real problem was the climate.
But Kakashi did not believe him at all.
He knew Kenichi too well. His old friend had always been mischievous, especially back when they were still in Konoha. Kenichi loved setting him up.
He had lied more than once, telling Kakashi that Minato and Kushina were looking for him, only for Kakashi to arrive and discover no one had called him at all.
Kenichi had even tried to trick him into wearing women's clothes to meet an artist for a portrait or take a photo. Kakashi had refused outright, and Kenichi had looked genuinely regretful about it.
"You really are…" Kakashi sighed, helpless.
Before he could finish, Kenichi's expression abruptly darkened.
His face turned sharp, alert, ugly in a way that made Kakashi's words die in his throat.
Kenichi left a quick, clipped, "Talk later," then vanished, sprinting away at full speed.
Kakashi frowned. "What's wrong?"
Confused, he followed immediately.
He wanted to know what had happened. If he could help, he would. If he could not, at least he would understand.
And, of course, it was also a chance to see what Kenichi was truly doing in the Land of Snow.
Kenichi was already rushing toward the port.
The reason he was so agitated was simple.
His Shadow Clone had been dispelled.
That was not normal.
When Kenichi had stepped out earlier to help Kakashi, he had intentionally left a Shadow Clone behind, with one job: capture Koyuki.
Koyuki held the key to the country's heater, the "treasure" that could change the Land of Snow's climate. Without Koyuki, Kenichi could not directly observe how that special tool worked.
Originally, it should have been effortless.
Kenichi was strong. The Land of Snow did not have many powerful people. He was confident.
Yet just now, Kenichi had felt his Shadow Clone get defeated. The memory that returned with it showed the one responsible.
An elderly looking man.
When Kenichi arrived at the port, at the exact spot where his clone had fallen, there was no one.
Koyuki was gone.
The old man was gone.
No trace.
Kenichi's face sank.
He had trained many jutsu, but sensory techniques were not his specialty. He tried a rough scan anyway, pushing chakra out and feeling through the crowd.
Nothing.
The port was packed, bodies moving in a dense blur. The snowfall never stopped, and the white curtain made visibility worse with every minute.
Kenichi clicked his tongue.
"Snow…"
Then an idea struck him hard enough that his gaze sharpened.
Nagato's Rain Tiger at Will Jutsu.
That technique used rainfall infused with chakra to detect intruders. Kenichi had tried to get Nagato to teach it to him before, but Nagato had refused.
Even so, Kenichi understood the principle. He had seen it in battle. It was straightforward in concept, terrifying in application.
Infuse chakra into the rain, then use that connection to distinguish the presence of outsiders.
And rain and snow were both just water.
Different forms, same foundation.
In practical terms, Rain Tiger at Will was far more reliable. Rain was dense and consistent. Snow varied, and unless it was heavy, the speed difference compared to rain made it harder to interpret.
Still.
It was possible.
"If I push it further…" Kenichi's thoughts moved fast. "Even the moisture in the air could be used to sense enemies."
But that step was too difficult for now.
Kenichi glanced to the side. Kakashi was catching up behind him.
Kenichi did not explain. He simply began gathering chakra.
He intended to use Sage Mode as the base. If he wanted to force the snow itself to become his sensory network, he needed a level of chakra control and output that ordinary methods could not provide.
Pain's technique was called Rain Tiger at Will Jutsu.
Then this one could be called…
Snow Tiger at Will Jutsu.
Kenichi paused for the briefest instant.
"That name sounds weird."
Then he pushed the thought aside.
His chakra surged upward, spreading into the sky, linking to the cloud cover above the port. Sage Mode chakra, heavy and vast, began to mingle with the cold air and the clouds.
The reaction came immediately.
The snow stopped.
Kenichi blinked, stunned for a moment.
Did he fail?
He increased the output again, forcing more chakra into the cloud layer, tightening the connection, trying to make the "snow" respond to his will.
The next second, the sky answered.
The snow did not return.
Instead, hailstones the size of human heads began to crash down from above.
.....
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